Quit Smoking: Better Labels Help Consumers Kick The Habit

Even today despite numerous health warnings and educational implementations regarding the dangers of tobacco use, it remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 480,000 Americans every year. Furthermore, 41,000 of the deaths from exposure are due just to secondhand smoke exposure.

New findings published in the journal Addictive Behaviors shows that putting the right warning labels on cigarettes can help to better address the problem, reducing the number of potential consumers. Previous studies have shown just how cigarette prices and images hold a direct impact on whether or not certain consumers may purchase a product, directly relating to women in terms of smoking and quitting.

Researchers at the University of Zaragoza in Spain found that less educated women living in the area tended to be more responsive to pictorial labels on cigarette packages. Furthermore, they found that prices and labels could serve as good tools to help reduce smoking rates among women.

For instance, in Spain, while smoking rates are declining among men, the same is not true in women. Experts believe that better labeling may help to address the issue.

For the study, they collected data from nearly 49,900 responses of women via the Spanish National Health surveys in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2011 to study how policy actions affected tobacco consumption decisions among Spanish women.

Researchers specifically focused on four different generations of women, including those born before 1950; those born between 1951 and 1964; those born between 1965 and 1983; and those born between 1085 and 1999.

"Women from different generations have experienced different policy interventions, marketing strategies and cultural changes that have determined their behaviour," lead study author Ana Isabel Gil-Lacruz said. 

Findings revealed that women who were highly educated were more responsive to prices, while less educated counterparts preferred pictorial labels.

Furthermore, after analyzing the responses of the women, researchers concluded that cigarette prices and pictorial labels were both good tools for reducing smoking rates among women in the area.

"Highly educated women are more sensitive to prices and less educated women to pictorial labels," researchers concluded, noting that both policies are effective in reducing tobacco consumption among women.

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